Chapter 105

Hermione kissed Severus on the cheek before laying her head on his chest. She breathed, "I love you."

He kissed the top of her head. "I love you as well."

She hummed as he unfurled the paper.

"Is there anything interesting in the potions section?" Hermione cooed.

Severus ran his fingers through her hair. "To be honest, I am more interested in the front page at the moment."

Hermione glanced up at him. "Oh?"

"Indeed." He gripped the paper with both hands.

"What's the front page story?"

"Apparently Percy's squib cure is garnering international attention."

"It is?"

He nodded. "Apparently Germany is so taken with the decrease in squibs that they would like to implement his potions into their water system as well."

"I hate to say it, but that potion really was a stroke of genius," Hermione admitted.

Severus grunted.

"The magic is low enough not to affect most magical beings, but it can affect fetal development."

Severus dropped the paper.

"It must have taken years to determine the proper amount to put into the water system. Then again I suppose muggles put fluoride in the water, so it is not that novel of a concept."

"How much of that squib cure are they putting in the water?"

"I honestly don't know," Hermione shrugged. "I suppose you'd have to ask someone in the Ministry or one of the Malfoys."

"Perhaps the more pertinent question is how low in magic is the squib cure."

Hermione bit her lip. "What do you mean?"

"We are putting a potion into the water intended for fetuses with little thought as to how it would affect adults."

"From what I remember, they tested the potion on pregnant women."

"How old were these women?"

Hermione's eyes widened. "I am not sure."

"If the subjects were under twenty-five then nobody would know how it would affect a former lycanthrope."

"No, I guess they would not know its effects. The ones older than twenty-five may never have been exposed to lycanthropy either. Fenrir didn't bite everyone, so it's conceivable that most of the test subjects were never bitten."

"I assume it is safe to say that the potion was not tested on men at all."

Hermione sat up. "No, it was not."

Severus grabbed the paper and continued to read the article. "The program was started eight months ago. It has only been implemented in Britain."

"Eight months is plenty of time for the magic to build up and begin affecting the amnesia victims," Hermione panicked.

"Indeed it is," Severus' face was paler than usual. "And the Ministry is about to send their little experiment to Germany."

"You, you don't think they're aware of the potential affects, do you?"

"I would like to think not."

"Yet you believe they know of its effects."

"It would not be surprising if they did."

"Oh Merlin."

"Even if they don't know about the effects of their water tampering now, we will be sure to inform them of it immediately."

"How?"

Severus tossed the paper across the bed. "Draco can create a newsletter."

"I know he could do that," she replied. "But how could we guarantee that the news of this development reaches Germany before any one of their citizens develops amnesia?"

"Draco and Lucius are well-connected. They will find someone who will lend them an ear."

"What if they do not believe us?"

"Why would they not believe us?"

Hermione picked at a loose string on the hem of the sheet. "This is all a hunch. We have no evidence backing up our claims. We need a formula, some type of medical test, or something to present to the government officials. Otherwise this is pure conjecture."

"I would like that as well, but I fear using the people of Germany as our guinea pigs to prove our theory." His face lit up. "Or perhaps we should use them as guinea pigs."

"Severus," Hermione gasped. "You cannot seriously be considering allowing them to put that potion into the German water system and then waiting to see what happens in eight months."

"I would never dream of doing such a thing," Severus replied. "I thought we could perform blood tests on a few former German lycanthropes and compare them with those of former lycanthropes from Britain."

"All that will prove is that whatever is causing the amnesia is unique to Britain, a fact we are both well-aware of."

"To a certain degree, yes," Severus replied. "Yet if we can determine the magic properties of that squib cure and compare it to the blood of the amnesiacs and the Germans…"

"Then we will have definitive proof of the amnesia's cause."

"Once we accomplish that we can go about finding a bloody cure for this thing."

"Oh Severus." Hermione threw her arms around him. "All of that sounds brilliant."

He pressed her against him. "One can only hope that the German government sees it that way."

"I am certain that if anyone can persuade them, it would be Lucius Malfoy," Hermione replied.

"Indeed," Severus released her. "Speaking of our dear friend, I need to floo him along with Draco."

"I can find some older Daily Prophets as well," Hermione offered. "Perhaps in the potions section they will have the chemical formula for it. At the very least we'll have a timeline for when it was put into the water system."

"Excellent idea." Severus leapt out of bed and began to dress himself.

Hermione folded the newspaper and smiled.

After two long months, she finally had hope that Severus could be cured.

Dear Ronald,

Thank you for your letter. Before I proceed to tell you anything else, I demand that you never refer to yourself as my "dad" ever again. My dad is Severus Snape. He is the man who sheltered me, clothed me, fed me, and loved me when I was being impossible. You are the sperm donor who abandoned my mother and me.

All that being said, I deeply desire to meet the man who created me. Would next Saturday at 11:00 AM Peru Standard Time work for you? I can meet you wherever would be most convenient for you. I would like to get to know you, and hope you take an interest in me as well.

If I am being honest, it is still a shock to me that you are the man who created me, but I am slowly wrapping my mind around that fact. It will do me good to learn more about you. Hopefully you will take some pleasure in seeing me as well.

Kindest Regards,

Rose Snape

Rose watched her owl fly away, wondering if she had just made the biggest mistake of her life.